September hacking incident closes Square Enix Online Shop

If you happen to point your browser to where the North American Square Enix Online Shop should be ... you won't find it. Or for that matter, the U.K., European and Hong Kong stores. A security breach between Sept. 13 and 18 allowed unauthorized access to a server in Japan that hosted the shop, and non-financial data (that is, names, e-mail addresses, etc.; not credit card info) was compromised for U.S. customers. Shortly after the incident occurred, and as reported on Kotaku (link may not be working for a bit because of Hurricane Sandy), all of the sites — which retailed the Play Arts Kai lines and other physical Square Enix merchandise — were taken offline. They have not come up since.

So what becomes of the Square Enix Shop? According to the posted message, "At this time we have decided to close down the current version of the U.S. SQUARE ENIX ONLINE SHOP. Online merchandise sales will resume, and we will outline the details at a later time." Whether that's something akin to Japan, where the Square Enix Shop was essentially folded into their regular e-Shop, or a complete re-design as the European message indicates, is unclear.

But for the meanwhile, online sales will continue at the usual retailers in North America and Japan, so sales should not be affected. However, it would be wise, as the message states, to monitor your credit cards and report any suspicious activity if you've bought from the store, just as a safeguard. Heck, that's just a good idea in general even when there's no incidents.

October 23, 2012Unauthorized Access to the Square Enix Online Shop

Last month, Square Enix notified our customers that a third-party vendor reported an incident of unauthorized access to one of its servers located in Japan. This server hosted the SQUARE ENIX ONLINE SHOP (Square Enix-branded merchandise). http://www.square-enix-shop.com

With respect to the U.S. store, our investigation has determined that non-financial data, including name, mailing address, phone number and email address, were compromised by this unauthorized access.

As we have previously reported, the server in question did not store credit card information for any U.S. customers. Moreover, the server and vendor were not connected to any other Square Enix online services.

While no U.S. credit card data was compromised, we recommend that you always monitor your credit cards and credit reports for any suspicious activity.

At this time we have decided to close down the current version of the U.S. SQUARE ENIX ONLINE SHOP. Online merchandise sales will resume, and we will outline the details at a later time.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. We take data security extremely seriously and we regret any inconvenience this may have caused our customers and fans. We appreciate your patience and support.

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